It is pretty hard to find readily available pellets here in VT, but it seems like I'm finding these new compressed sawdust bricks and logs everywhere. Are these things the future, and not pellets? You can burn these things in regular woodstoves; they take up very little room to store; they are clean, easy to handle and produce no creosote. Now that I've invested $4,000 in pellet technology, I'm wondering if we are going to have to compete with woodstoves for the material that we need to run our stoves. I'm wondering what everyone's take is on these new forms of bio fuel, and if you think that it will help keep the price of pellets high.
What is Going On With These Bio Bricks and Logs? Are They Helping to Keep Pellets in Short Supply?
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Most of the wood burners in my area have free resources to their cord wood. Most of the folks I know that get their wood for free would not resort to purchasing the bricks unless they had no choice. Why pay when you don't have to? I think they are a good idea (environmentally). They have benefits as you mention...easy to stack and not as messy as cord wood. I wonder if they really burn that efficient though since there is no forced combustion air being blown through the fire.
I don't think the bricks will put that big of a dent in the pellet supply because I don't think they have caught on in popularity to that extent. Many pellet supplies, but not all, are short due to the raw materials. If raw materials are in short supply then the bricks can't be made either. Don't second guess your purchase, enjoy your pellet stove. I might try a few of the bricks for camping this summer.
I don't think the bricks will put that big of a dent in the pellet supply because I don't think they have caught on in popularity to that extent. Many pellet supplies, but not all, are short due to the raw materials. If raw materials are in short supply then the bricks can't be made either. Don't second guess your purchase, enjoy your pellet stove. I might try a few of the bricks for camping this summer.
I think that most of the people who are buying these have a fireplace in their home, and use the fire logs for "ambiance". I doubt people are buying them to heat their homes.
I was in HD the other day, and they had loads of these things on the shelves....no big rush of people buying them like you'd see for pellets.
I was in HD the other day, and they had loads of these things on the shelves....no big rush of people buying them like you'd see for pellets.
I purchased two tons of Envi-blocks back in May of this year. Ideally, I'd buy cordwood, but I don't yet have the infrastructure on my property yet to store and stack wood for seasoning.
The bricks are pretty good - last night I packed my stove with 4 bricks at 10:00 p.m., and the stove top still read 200+ degrees at 6:00 a.m. Now, granted, I placed the bricks on top of a nice deep red pile of coals that I had constructed using my small supply of cordwood, but they do work pretty good. In terms of performance, they're about maybe 80% as good as nice, seasoned high-BTU hardwood. As noted above though, they can burn for a long, long time, although not quite as hot as seasoned hardwood.
Stacking and storing are a breeze. Got 'em right in my attached garage; I walk in, grab some bricks, and into the stove they go.
There is a price to pay for this, though. I paid just under $500 for two pallets, which works out to just under $0.80 per brick. Now, I'm sure I could get more than two cords of already-seasoned hardwood for that price, and probably a third, unseasoned cord at the same time. As I said though, I just don't have space (yet) where I can stack and store cordwood for seasoning.
In short, the bricks work very well, although you are paying somewhat of a premium for the convenience factor. However, I have found so far, that performance-wise they work best when they are used in conjunction with seasoned cordwood. So next year, I think I'll be buying one pallet of bricks, and one cord of hardwood.
The bricks are pretty good - last night I packed my stove with 4 bricks at 10:00 p.m., and the stove top still read 200+ degrees at 6:00 a.m. Now, granted, I placed the bricks on top of a nice deep red pile of coals that I had constructed using my small supply of cordwood, but they do work pretty good. In terms of performance, they're about maybe 80% as good as nice, seasoned high-BTU hardwood. As noted above though, they can burn for a long, long time, although not quite as hot as seasoned hardwood.
Stacking and storing are a breeze. Got 'em right in my attached garage; I walk in, grab some bricks, and into the stove they go.
There is a price to pay for this, though. I paid just under $500 for two pallets, which works out to just under $0.80 per brick. Now, I'm sure I could get more than two cords of already-seasoned hardwood for that price, and probably a third, unseasoned cord at the same time. As I said though, I just don't have space (yet) where I can stack and store cordwood for seasoning.
In short, the bricks work very well, although you are paying somewhat of a premium for the convenience factor. However, I have found so far, that performance-wise they work best when they are used in conjunction with seasoned cordwood. So next year, I think I'll be buying one pallet of bricks, and one cord of hardwood.
$500 for two-tons is not that bad of a price - cheaper than pellets are going for at this time. Also, you don't need an expensive stove to burn them. There are thousands of people who burn wood that do not have access to their own wood lot, and this could be an alternative for them. Thanks for responding with your experience in using the product.
macman
here is the link to the wiki mentioned:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/BioBricks
1 brick equates to 17,000 btus
here is the link to the wiki mentioned:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/BioBricks
1 brick equates to 17,000 btus
Thanks Anton & Code.....so the BTU output is the same...approx. 8500 btu/lb. Makes sense.....just curious if they were the same thing as regular pellets.
I work with a guy who heats with wood, he bought some of the bio bricks to try, he liked them but with wood being free or even at the cord price they are very expensive, I can't remember the price per ton he found them at but it was almost double what he could buy wood for in central NH.
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